Economist.com Cities Guide: Sao Paulo Briefing - June 2006

News this month

Under fire

São Paulo state descended into chaos in May as armed gangs launched attacks against the government. The mayhem, which began on May 12th and lasted about a week, was orchestrated from within prisons by the state's largest criminal gang, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). Using mobile phones, prisoners organised a protest against the transfer of 765 prisoners, many of the PCC members, to a remote, high-security prison. Seventy-four of the state’s 144 prisons erupted in riots, 82 buses were torched and 17 bank branches attacked. Schools and shops closed and transport froze. By the time the violence subsided, more than 160 people had been killed, a quarter of them policemen or prison guards, and 110 “aggressors” killed by police.

As relative calm returned, politicians began arguing over who was to blame. The ruling Workers’ Party (PT) was quick to condemn São Paulo's former governor, Geraldo Alckmin, who is trying to unseat Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president and a member of the PT, in October’s elections. Lula’s supporters argued that Mr Alckmin presided over a dysfunctional, overcrowded prison system. Mr Alckmin retorted that this was hardly his fault, as the federal government had cut money for building new prisons. With both sides pointing fingers, it was inevitable that a head would roll: on May 26th the state prison secretary, Nagashi Furukawa, resigned. Meanwhile, human-rights groups and some politicians have called for an investigation of police tactics used to quell the violence. In Guarulhos, a city just outside São Paulo, 34 of the 56 deaths allegedly came from gunshot wounds to the head, raising fears that police had carried out execution-style killings. A full report is expected in June.

Off to the races

The election field is taking shape ahead of October's vote for São Paulo’s governor. On May 8th the PT chose Aloizio Mercadante, a senator and founding member of the party, over Marta Suplicy, the former mayor of São Paulo, as its candidate. He will face José Serra of the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB), who resigned as mayor to seek the governor’s job after he failed to win his party’s presidential nomination. Mr Mercadante has his work cut out: although a recent poll showed Mr Serra losing some support, he is still expected to win enough votes in the election's first round to eliminate the need for a run-off.

Polls paint a less rosy picture for the PSDB’s presidential candidate, Geraldo Alckmin. His campaign has hardly dented Lula's popularity. Polls predict that Lula will win the first round of voting, with Mr Alckmin picking up 21% of the vote at the most. Mr Alckmin is hoping that enough new candidates will enter the fray to split the vote and force a run-off, which would give him a better chance of victory.

Jailbird

One of the most prominent figures in São Paulo is now in the clink. On May 26th police arrested Edemar Cid Ferreira for his fraudulent management of Banco Santos. The São Paulo-based bank was taken over by the central bank in November 2004 and went bankrupt last September, after investigators found a hole of almost $1 billion in its balance sheet.

Mr Ferreira—and 19 others—had already been indicted on charges of money-laundering and other illegal acts, and authorities had seized thousands of works of art from his mansion in São Paulo’s posh Morumbi district. Prosecutors claim that Mr Ferreira is hindering the investigations into the bank's collapse and hiding artwork that has been confiscated by the state. Mr Ferreira’s request for bail has been denied.

Black out

São Paulo’s most prestigious art institution, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) was left in the dark on May 23rd. AES Eletropaulo, an electricity company, shut off the museum’s power because it had not paid its bills. The museum had to rent generators to ensure that its Degas exhibition—one of the year's biggest—remained open to the public.

According to Eletropaulo, the museum owes the company nearly 3.5m reais ($1.6m) in accounts dating back to 1999. The company finally turned on the lights on May 26th, when the museum agreed to pay off the debt over the next four years. Whether MASP will stick to this deadline is questionable: it has a glaring deficit and has already defaulted on two previous debt-payment schemes. The crisis ignited criticism of the museum’s controversial director, Júlio Neves, whose term ends next year after 11 years. Last year he attempted to raise money by building a tower on an adjacent plot, to be let to a mobile-phone company that would advertise itself in lights. The city's planning commission vetoed the idea, and many viewed it as commercially crass. Under Mr Neves, the number of visitors has declined, and the MASP is facing two separate suits for non-payment of bills: from the city's social security department and from employees over non-payment of wages.

Peace returns

More than 1.5m Paulistanos turned out for a 24-hour cultural marathon, from dusk on May 20th to dusk on May 21st. The festival, planned by the city long before the mob and police confrontations of mid-May, gave timid citizens an excuse to reclaim the streets after the chaos petered out. Free plays, films, concerts and puppet shows were held at more than 500 sites around town. Most events in central locations were well attended, but some on the outskirts were cancelled at the last minute because of fears of renewed violence. Happily, there were no reports of disturbances.

Catch if you can

June 2006

The Mythic Universe of Hector Julio Paride Bernabó

Until July 2nd 2006

Born in Argentina, but an adopted son of Bahia in the Brazilian north-east, Hector Julio Paride Bernabó (1911-1998), known as Carybé, was an acute observer of his chosen region. His work, which ranges from careful watercolours and acrylics to surrealistic oil paintings, figurative sculptures and carved wood reliefs, reflects his love of his country and his affection for its people and customs. Ten wood panels depicting the gods of the African-influenced Candoblé religion are particularly impressive. But don’t miss his carefully composed paintings of daily life, which are more original and evocative than his flirtations with surrealism.

Museu Afro-Brasileiro, Pavilhão Padre Manoel da Nóbrega, Parque de Ibirapuera, Portão 10. Tel: +55 (0)11 5579-6099. Open: Tues-Sun 10am-6pm. Entrance: free. See the museum's website (in Portuguese).

More from the Sao Paulo cultural calendar